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Montreal Canadiens: Five Free Agents They Were Right To Avoid

By Ken MacMillan

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 07: Ryan Dzingel #18 of the Ottawa Senators, Matt Duchene #95, and Colin White #36 talk during the second period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on April 7, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 07: Ryan Dzingel #18 of the Ottawa Senators, Matt Duchene #95, and Colin White #36 talk during the second period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on April 7, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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The Montreal Canadiens entered free agency yesterday with nearly $15 million to play with. They made a surprise move by giving an offer sheet to Sebastian Aho and were wise to focus on a 21 year old RFA and not these UFA’s.

The Montreal Canadiens had plenty of cap space all season long and opened up more on the eve of free agency. Trading Andrew Shaw to the Chicago Blackhawks for a trio of draft picks and sending Nic Deslauriers to the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth round pick only gave them more financial freedom.

All told, the Habs had at least $15 million to use on free agents. There were plenty of great free agents available, and many more good ones that were paid like great players. That’s the nature of the game when you jump into the frenzy on July 1.

Brian Burke, former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Hartford Whalers and Stanley Cup winning Anaheim Ducks in 2007 often says there are more mistakes made on July 1 than all the other days of the year combined.

He’s not wrong. The last time the Montreal Canadiens made a “splash” on a free agent was Karl Alzner in 2017. Two years later and the man with the $4.625 million cap hit already has a season in the minor leagues under his belt and is unlikely to play another game with the Canadiens even though there are three years remaining on his deal.

That’s why Marc Bergevin was wise to target a backup goaltender in Keith Kinkaid who will earn just $1.75 million for one season in Montreal. You could argue even that menial contract is an overpayment after a down season with the New Jersey Devils and a trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets led to zero starts.

Instead, Bergevin targeted a restricted free agent with his aggressive move. He signed Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes to a five-year contract with a cap hit of $8.454 million. Now, we wait to see if they get the player and give up first, second and third round picks or if the Hurricanes will match the offer and keep Aho.

Either way, the Montreal Canadiens were smart to avoid getting into the bidding wars that lead to huge overpayments on July 1. They were rumoured to be interested in several key free agents, but ultimately kept their cap space open for Aho or future trades that may upgrade their roster. Or both.

Let’s take a look at the five contracts the Canadiens were smart to step away from and not sign yesterday.

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